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How many of you do yard burns?
We don’t get a yard waste green can and are expected to burn, compost or haul off our yard waste.
Hauling a few acres of waste clippings and branches is for the birds.
Are there any special things you do when you burn?
This is what we do.
We have a nice designated burn pile area.
I keep a charged water hose nearby.
If it’s dry I will wet the surrounding areas.
To start the fire I use a propane weed burner. It’s kinda like Elons “not a flamethrower” and works well.
We don’t use gasoline.
Sometimes we will use a fire log starter
I don’t burn paper or boxes but I don’t think that would hurt anything if you were on top of it.
Sparks and embers from boxes or paper are fire hazards is my reasoning.
Keeping a heavy duty metal yard rake there works good too.
Oh and we never leave a fire unattended.
We can see it from inside our house.
The first thing on your list should be calling the fire department to see if there is a burn ban in force for the time frame you want to start a fire. Our fire department will issue a burn ban that is weather dependent.
The other first thing is to ask them if you need a permit to burn.
As far as what we do —— we are able to carry our trash off to our division of the county dump, where they have dumpsters labeled for THIS and THAT, plus a huge trash compactor.
We do have more than a couple acres, so we pile tree limbs and brush in one spot in the pasture and let it build up pretty good for a few years. We then have the fire department come and burn it for practice, and give them a sizable donation as our fire department is volunteer and it takes a lot of money to buy all their gear , etc.
After last year’s horrendous ice storm, the wood pile tripled. We had to hire kids from DH’s work (because many young adults today think it’s a crime to get dirt under their fingernails) to the help get the downed trees cut up, off the fences, loadon trailers, & stack the wood “teepee” style on the pile. Not fun when you’re young, especially not fun for us retirees but we got the job done, even if it did take us a couple months.
There’s usually regulations for this.
Time of year, amount/size, various safety criteria, etc…
Contact your local Fire Department and ask them about controlled burns.
They will know whether it’s legal, and if so, what the requirements are.
I found that shocking but I guess that might pertain to most people.
I shouldn’t be shocked though because wasn’t there a person here that wanted a rural HOA?
If I’m not mistaken there were some with city issues as well.
We live in rural logging country.
We burn in the winter.
The only thing compostable is the garden area.
Actually, all organic yard waste is compostable...it just takes longer
FWIW, all my multiple-acre properties were divided into zones. The zone nearest the house or outbuildings was kept more manicured and trimmed than the ones farther away, partly to create defensible space, partly to save work, and partly to provide cover and more diverse food for the wildlife I lived there to observe. The last thing I want from a rural property is a tidy city park.
Last edited by Parnassia; 02-02-2022 at 03:01 PM..
When we first moved to our farm in New England there was so much woody debris in the neglected pastures we decided that a big bonfire of it would be a good idea. It was February, lots of snow, we didn't know about the designated burn days etc that the town had, but it was almost certainly okay anyway.
It was a huge amount of work dragging dead branches through the snow, and then trying to heave them on to a giant fire that singed your eyebrows off if the wind changed while you were struggling with the darn branch. Generally unpleasant, and then the next summer it transpired that the horses loved those burn sites and would make special trips to roll there and get filthy with soot and ash.
Was the last time we did that. Now we pile brush on to the loader of the tractor and haul into the woods, where there's a hill of brush that we just leave there to be animal habitat as it slowly breaks down. Works a lot better for us, for the air, saves labor and is ecological.
This ^. We live on rural acreage in NW Washington. We have what we call “The Back Forty Slow Compost Pile”. We pile dead tree limbs, salmon berry bushes, old rugs and furniture, (not man made materials), raked leaves and other organic matter. Over the years we have cleared less and the pile has naturally composted to a small lump. We also dump spring perennial bed and garden cleanup into holes we dig with our tractor. When full, we backfill and the area grows grass again. Easy and no dump fees or smoke.
How many of you do yard burns?
We don’t get a yard waste green can and are expected to burn, compost or haul off our yard waste.
Hauling a few acres of waste clippings and branches is for the birds.
Are there any special things you do when you burn?
This is what we do.
We have a nice designated burn pile area.
I keep a charged water hose nearby.
If it’s dry I will wet the surrounding areas.
To start the fire I use a propane weed burner. It’s kinda like Elons “not a flamethrower” and works well.
We don’t use gasoline.
Sometimes we will use a fire log starter
I don’t burn paper or boxes but I don’t think that would hurt anything if you were on top of it.
Sparks and embers from boxes or paper are fire hazards is my reasoning.
Keeping a heavy duty metal yard rake there works good too.
Oh and we never leave a fire unattended.
We can see it from inside our house.
So what do you guys do?
The only thing I burn is sticks/wood that either falls off or I prune off.
Even when I knock down my vegetable garden before replanting in the spring I simply toss the old plant stalks out in the yard and run them over with the mower. Everything that can be mulched, I mulch.
Of the trees that end up being pruned, I pick some of the nicer pieces of oak or chestnut for my smoker.
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